Ragadozók

Adrien Brody OK, de Liam Neeson jobb lett volna :) Alice Braga mesterlövész legjobb a csapatban. Az azonosulás Silvestri klasszikus filmzenéjével már az első másodpercekben megtörténik, az eredeti világát jellemző zenei motívumok megmaradnak és okosan vannak felhasználva. A forgatókönyvírók is hűek maradtak azokhoz a kulcsfontosságú cselekményelemekhez és alapelvekhez, amelyekre az eredeti film épült. Ez nem másolás, hanem idézet, saját ésszel, az eredeti iránti tisztelettel és főleg az eredeti iránti leplezetlen lelkes szeretettel irányítva. Rodriguez csapata alacsony költségvetés mellett kisebb csodát tett. Legalábbis a film első, számomra ötcsillagos felében, ami tényleg visszavitt azokba az időkbe, amikor még átadtam magam a mozifilmeknek. A második rész, amely Fishburne karakterének érkezésével kezdődik, már a (felesleges) váratlan fordulatokra támaszkodva próbál "cool & in" lenni, és inkább az eredeti elemekkel játszik, amivel nekem talán több bajom van, mint az eredetihez nem kötődő, még ebben a műfajban is kifinomultabb forgatókönyveken nevelkedett új (Morpheus) generációnak lesz. Az eredeti tisztasága így elveszett, de mit tegyünk, a fejlesztéseket meg kellett csinálni, és a kár nem nagy, mert még mindig messze vagyunk attól a rontástól vagy frivolitástól, amit az élősködő crossoverek okoztak Alien vs. Predator - A halál a Ragadozó ellen, amelynek rossz híre minden bizonnyal rossz hatással lesz ennek a műnek bevételeire is. Amit a Ragadozók film nem érdemel meg, mert bár nem zárul olyan látványosan, mint ahogyan kezd, és bár máshol keveri a kártyákat, mint kellene (egy egzisztenciálisabb, A majmok bolygója előtt is tisztelgő folytatás?:), sokáig ez marad a nyolcvanas évek jelenségének egyetlen őszinte és érdemi folytatása. Köszönöm, Roberto! (2010.07.02)

After “Arnie’s” first one, this is hands down the best film in the Predator universe, though the original holds that first place mainly for the cult status it has gained over the years. By this I mean that both are basically the same, but whereas Predators is intentionally silly in a cute 1980s way, in Predator  that’s unintentional and therefore better (or worse, depending on how you see it), thanks to is earnestness. Nimrod Antal proves that the fears about his choice as director were unwarranted. I wasn’t expecting any interesting directorial tricks, but Predators is a film where the craftsmanship and the sense for execution and atmosphere are more than enough. I had a little problem with Adrien Brody, who’s maybe a bit too good a character actor for the role. In short, Predators is almost excellent, I got exactly what I wanted. PS: “Die, you space faggot” is almost as great as “You’re one ugly motherfucker”… (2010.07.08)

If I wanted to use a strong word, I’d probably use "disappointment" first, but "wasted potential" seems more appropriate with hindsight. Antal is talented, there’s no denying it because for two hours I felt like I was watching unadulterated 1980s carnage. It’s aided by good cinematography, and Debney’s brilliant soundtrack (those native drums just work even twenty-three years later). The present bunch is worse. True, I can't expect psychological miniatures, but... damn, couldn't it have been stretched for a few more minutes so we could learn a little more about them? There are all sorts of excuses for this, such as the fact that action movies were made this way when the first film was made. But what do you do with one random survivor and a nutcase with a scalpel? It’s also hard to love a film where I have to hit my head a lot to shake the memory of any significant action out of it. In that regard, I'll be eagerly awaiting the Director's Cut on DVD. Until then, it gets a hesitant 3 ½ stars. PS: The first half earns five stars. (2010.07.09)

The weakest predators in the history of film were playing cat and mouse with the worst soldiers on the face of the Earth. Adrien Brody put on about 15 kilograms of muscle for this role, yet he still looks like a stick. Goggins, on the other hand, generally plays fags in most movies and here he is supposed to put in an absolute performance worthy of the SAS. Neither of them managed to clear that hurdle. It looks embarrassing, and what’s even worse is the Chinese guy, who swordfights one of the predators. I don’t know if the predators were just sick of what a bunch of amateurs those morons were, of they were the weakest predators ever. However, both those things made sure that even otherwise good ideas were buried with everything else in this film. (2016.10.03)

Antal has an incredible sensitivity for getting that eighties feeling right, in the end Brody surprisingly doesn’t seem like Arnie’s androgynous embryo (in the ending sequence his muscle-bound body was particularly impressive... or else CGI technology is much more advanced that I thought) and so only the more expensive half away from the jungle is the only thing that spoils it; not that it’s outright bad, but it lags far behind the first half in terms of quality. In the better half, it’s so good that it is better than the original. (2010.07.09)